Lightning in a Bottle

Chapter 11: Lavender Secrets

(Kaminari's POV)

Hard and cold. That's the first thing to enter my mind as my consciousness slowly returns to me. Something is rock hard and ice cold against my cheek and hands. My eyelids feel so heavy; it's difficult to open them. The air around me is so chilling, like walking outside during the first frost.

"It's re--... bol--..."

Are those voices? There's so much roaring in my ears and my head is still hazy, so I can't fully understand what they're saying. Where am I?

"...--waking up now."

My brain is clearing the fog and sounds are becoming clearer. My eyes are still heavy, but I'm trying to force them open. All I can see is grey concrete floor at first. Then, something else comes into view. Something very red. Pooling around some sort of lump?

No, it's not a lump.

It's Hitoshi.

My body jolts up immediately as I finally process the moonlight pale skin and mop of lilac hair. My heart shatters inside my chest, each little piece grinding itself into dust. Tears already streaming down my face before I even realize they were filling my eyes.

"Hitoshi!" My voice chokes itself out very suddenly, like some kind of force just pushed it out. I attempt to crawl over to him, but something stands in my way. Someone stands in my way.

I drag my eyes up to see a guy with bright blonde hair and sky-blue orbs with intense white pupils. His bangs are medium long and almost completely cover his eyes as they swoop down to one side. His stare on me is so serious, I can feel fear rising inside me.

"Hello, Denki Kaminari," he says, his tone as cold as the air around us. "You have any idea who I am?"

My body is shaking; I feel like my every movement is out of my control. I shake my head. My pulse is racing and pounding so hard, I can hear it in my ears. His eyes are making me feel like I'm drowning.

Where am I? How did I get here?

"My name is Neito Monoma."

I freeze as he says that. The space around us even colder than before. My fear is replaced with pure rage. My blood is boiling hot in my veins. It's taking every fiber of my being not to lunge at this guy and electrocute him. He's too close to Hitoshi for me to take that risk.

And it all comes back to me.

A strange number called my personal phone, so I asked Jirou to answer it. She did and the call was very broken up and we mostly just heard static. But we were able to catch bits and pieces of Hitoshi shouting his last name. We also think he was trying to tell us to track the call from other bits and pieces we could hear. But then the call went dead.

We had the police track the call and it brought us to some empty field in the middle of nowhere. We searched everywhere but we couldn't find anything out of the ordinary or any people around. Then, suddenly this strange light swallowed me whole. Last thing I saw was Kirishima trying to reach out to me.

Now I'm here. Was it some kind of teleportation quirk? Is that Neito's power?

"It's really Chargebolt," I hear another voice beside me. I turn my head to see another guy with long purple hair and beady eyes. He's giving me a smile that I'm very familiar with; the smile of coming face to face with a famous idol. "I've seen you in person a few times now, but you would always run off. You're even more radiant up close."